Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1887-03-03

Snow In San Francisco--San Bernardino's Glori(
Ciimats and Resources Growth.

have been thinking to-day of the
career of that immortal man to whose
memory we of America to-day pay
loving homage. The birth of the Father
of his country occurred in very cold
month and imagine that his parents,
when they used to get upof highland thaw
out the paregoric bottle in the blaze of
a candle, would mentally kick them
selves for planning birth to take place
in midwinter. Such thoughts came to
my mind on reading accounts of the late
cold spells in Virginia and in fact all
over the East. OF course you have all
heard of San Francisco's big snow storm
and are probably thinking that Califor-
MIA hasn't much to blow about after all.
The storm at San Francisco was a
curious freak of nature and the people
did not know what to make of it. The
first thing they did was to get out of bed
and SNOWFALL each other. The snow
balling fever spread over the entire city
with wonderful rapidity. Boys and
girls snowballed, clerks and business
men caught the fever, policemen forgot
their duty and pelted each other with
snowballs, grave and learned judges of
the Supreme court adjourned their SEES
sion and clambered out the roof of the
old city hall to keep up the fusilade of
snowballs and during the battle part
of the roof of the old building gave way
directly over one of the court rooms.
Cinnamon were numerically pelted by
whites and whites who dared to venture
INTO Chinatown received storm of
missils that they would not be quick to
forget. The following day, however,
the suns rays quickly turned to liquid
every vestige of frozen vapor in the city
by the bay. Those snowstorms are not
common to California though they some-
times occur in many parts of the state.
They are far more rare than cyclones in
Wisconsin and less damaging. Here in
San Bernardino, in the heart of the
famous citrus belts, snow fell to the
depth of three inches some four years
ago. This fact, however, does not weigh
against the glorious climate of this
section of the country All localities
have certain unpleasant features and
San Bernardino is no exception to the
rule, but we find few things here to
growl about.
just now Southern California is ex-
periencing an unprecedented boom. 1t
is growing faster than any other part of
the coast and deservedly so. All who
come are delighted with the country
and astonished at its resources. This
city has done little to advertise itself and
is Lrobably less known abroad than many
places of far less Importance. Never
theless it is forging right ahead and will
doubtless soon take rank among the
largest cities of the coast. Property
that was worth only SO per front foot
two years ago now brings 800 to $3.50
per front foot. During the past year
there have been two street railroads and
IA motor road constructed here and also
large depot, round house and machine
shops. They are erecting now two large
hotels, each to cost 100000. Two new
railroads and several new stores are
building and the end is not yet. San Ber-
nafdino county, of which this is the
county seat contains within its bounda-
ries of $4,000 square miles every re-
source and advantage to make pros
porous county. 1t has vast mineral re-
sources of gold, silver, galena-ore, coal
and borax and large marble quaries.
1t produces its own lumber, there being
several mills busy at work reducing the
large mountain forests to serviceable
building material for denizens of the
valley. Over three hundred carloads
of the finest oranges in the world are
every year shipped out of here and an
immense quantity of all other citrus and
deciduous fruits, grain, vegetables and
beef Besides the innumerable mountain
streams which give us a supply of water
there arc in this valley over 500 artesian
or flowing wells, all of which send up a
good force of water. Of course there
are some warm days in summer, but
no warmer than are experienced in Lam
caster, while they are offset with delight
fully cool nights. Ice is needed here in
summer just as it is in the East. Teams
haul down supply every day through
out the summer from Mt. San Bernardino
16 miles away on whose snow-capped
summit is an unlimited supply of con-
gealed aqua parG. There is also an ice
factory here which turns out very
good. quality of ice at reasonable rate.
One experiences every variety of
climate here in days journey. Yester-
day drove through sweet scented
orange groves out upon the mesa lands
to the base of the mountains six miles
Nor.h of town and thence traversed
lovely canyon through which large
mountain stream cheerily wendell its
way among the giant boulders
and over precipices, creeping
among ferns and clumps of birch trees,
forming q scene of picturesque beauty.
Thence | clambered up the steep sides
of a brown-visaged old mountain to
obtain view of the valley beyond. 1t
was rough climb. You would struggle
up few hundred feet thinking you
would presently reach the summit, only
to find that your journey had scarcely
begun. After tedious journey |
reached the summit and was rewarded
| with a most magnificent view. Away